Inside The NFL

The clock was ticking. It was 1:50 p.m. last Thursday, andChargers general manager Bobby Beathard stood by a pay phone atthe tiny airport in Steamboat Springs, Colo., ready to pull thetrigger on the most eye-popping NFL trade of the 1990s. Beathardwas on the verge of giving the Cardinals San Diego's first-rounddraft picks in 1998 and '99, a second-round choice this year,one of the game's most dangerous return men (Eric Metcalf) and areserve linebacker (Patrick Sapp) to move up one place, from No.3 to Arizona's No. 2 spot, in the NFL draft on April 18. In sodoing, Beathard would guarantee that the Chargers could selectone of two marquee quarterbacks, Ryan Leaf or Peyton Manning.

If the Cardinals backed out, Beathard had a two o'clock deadlinefrom the Jets to make a trade for defensive end Hugh Douglas.The Chargers would give up their second- and sixth-round picksthis year for Douglas. Then San Diego would almost certainly usethe third pick in the draft on Andre Wadsworth, Florida State'sterrific pass-rushing defensive end.

Beathard, who had just arrived in Steamboat Springs for a familyvacation, called Arizona. He told Cardinals owner Bill Bidwilland vice president of player personnel Bob Ferguson that he wasready to do the deal, which the two teams had been negotiatingfor five weeks. But the Arizona executives asked for more timeto give the trade some final thought. "I can't," Beathard said."I have a deadline with another team on another deal."

"When's the deadline?" Ferguson asked.

Beathard looked at his watch. "Three minutes," he said.

"Wait a minute," Ferguson said, putting Beathard on hold.Moments later Bidwill got back on the line and said, "We have adeal."

Nothing says more about what pro football has become than thistrade. First, there's the desperate-for-a-quarterback factor.When Packers general manager Ron Wolf heard about the swap, hesaid, "I've got to call Bobby and congratulate him. You paywhatever you have to for a franchise player." The Chargers hadto pay a king's ransom to Arizona, which was fielding severaltempting offers for the rights to whichever of the twoquarterbacks the Colts, picking first in the draft, don't take.(The Bengals dangled two first-round picks plus running backKi-Jana Carter; the Saints offered a first-rounder plus fivemore picks in 1998; the Bears were willing to part with theirfirst-rounder plus 1,000-yard rusher Raymont Harris anddefensive end Alonzo Spellman.)

Then there's the sacrifice-tomorrow-for-today factor. San Diegodoesn't have a pick in rounds 2 through 4 this year and in round1 in '99, but at least it will have a quarterback who it canbuild around.

Finally, there's the mania factor: having to respond toimpatient fans and having to be competitive in a league thatrecently negotiated $17.6 billion in TV contracts. "There's morepressure today," Beathard says. "There's more of thethere's-no-tomorrow feeling."

On the day after the trade Beathard had no buyer's remorse.Since Super Bowl XXIX three years ago, when the upstart Chargersgot shellacked by the 49ers, his team is 21-28, and quarterbackStan Humphries has retired. "Had we gotten Douglas andWadsworth," Beathard says, "that means we don't get thequarterback. So maybe if we're 4-12 next year, we have anotherchance to pick a great quarterback--if there is one. But ifwe're 4-12 next year, maybe I'm not around to do the picking.Did we overpay? Shoot, we all overpay in this game now. Foreverything."

If the Colts take the University of Tennessee's Manning, thenLeaf, the Washington State quarterback and a big Chargers' fan,would be thrilled. The added pressure of a team's trading alarge chunk of its future for him doesn't seem to faze Leaf. "Ifthere's more pressure, I welcome it," he says. "My mom and mycoach have always said I'm at my best when I'm backed into acorner."

If the quarterback San Diego selects doesn't pan out, this couldbe the last megadeal by a guy once regarded as the smartestpersonnel man in football. It was suggested to Beathard lastFriday that he had paid too dearly in this deal. As sure as hehas ever been about anything, he replied, "You'll be wrong."

Randy MossTHE JURY'S STILL OUT

Marshall sophomore wide receiver Randy Moss, the enigma of thefirst round because of his troubled past, had an impressiveworkout for the handful of NFL teams who watched him go throughdrills at his school last Friday. In a 25[degree] windchill,Moss ran the 40 in 4.31, 4.35 and 4.44 seconds--superb timeseven in ideal conditions. But his performance the night beforeat a dinner with Bears coach Dave Wannstedt may have beenbetter. "He made a great impression," Wannstedt says."Well-dressed, polite, smart. The big question is whether he'sgrown up, and nothing showed up negatively in our two days there."

The Bears draft fifth, followed by the Rams and the Saints. NewOrleans talent evaluators also left West Virginia impressed, butSt. Louis was a no-show. "He's not on our draft board," Ramscoach Dick Vermeil said last week, citing the three black markson Moss's resume: a guilty plea to two counts of battery when hewas in high school, a positive marijuana test in college and a1996 incident in which he and his former girlfriend werearrested for domestic battery. "There are too many things in hiscareer that lead you to believe you might not get a good returnon your investment," says Vermeil, who last season, his firstwith the Rams, waived talented but troubled second-year runningback Lawrence Phillips.

With a nod to Moss's 174 catches for 3,529 yards and 54touchdowns over two college seasons, Wannstedt counters, "Ourscouts say he's the best receiver to come out of college in thelast 30 years."

DispatchesDOUGLAS A GOOD FIT FOR EAGLES

The Eagles did well in getting Hugh Douglas, an orphan of theJets' 3-4 defense, for second- and fifth-round picks. "Hughlikes the 4-3," says Philadelphia coach Ray Rhodes, who uses afour-man line. "He's comfortable playing on the edges with histechnique and power."... At the league's annual meetings nextweek in Orlando, instant replay is on the agenda--again--andproponents hope they can sell a system that assesses a five-yardpenalty against a team asking for a replay that doesn't changean official's ruling.... Look for the Seahawks to signquarterback Warren Moon, who turns 42 in November, to atwo-year, $6 million extension.

COLOR PHOTO: JOHN W. MCDONOUGH CHARGED UP Already a fan of the Chargers, Leaf likes the thought of playing in San Diego. [Ryan Leaf in game]COLOR PHOTO: SCOTT BROWN A BIG CATCH No one doubts his talent, but Moss is dogged by his history of off-field problems. [Randy Moss catching football]

FOOTBALL STATBOX

Pack Attacked

After one month of free agency Green Bay has lost five playerswho started in the Packers' 31-24 Super Bowl loss to theBroncos: cornerback Doug Evans (to the Panthers), punter CraigHentrich (Oilers), free safety Eugene Robinson (Falcons), guardAaron Taylor (Chargers) and defensive end Gabe Wilkins (49ers).In the six years since the NFL instituted unfettered freeagency, the 1997 Packers and the '93 Cowboys have lost the moststarters in the off-season following a Super Bowl appearance.What's more, none of the other three hardest-hit teams made itback to the NFL title game the next year.

Before he became the premier postseason performer of his generation, the Patriots icon was a middling college quarterback who invited skepticism, even scorn, from fans and his coaches. That was all—and that was everything